Al Sharpton

[Rushmore]

I just watched Sharpton going on a bit about Imus this morning, and I have watched him on O'Reilly over the past several years, and I am old enough to remember his buffoonery way back when with Tawanna Brawley and any other number of moronic displays, and...

This guy has really come a long way. He's obviously very intelligent, seems to be relatively reasonable, and, perhaps most importantly, seems to be genuinely interested in healthy, constructive dialogues.

I used to get bile in my throat every time he appeared on television. Now, I actually want to hear what he has to say.

Am I insane, or has this guy done a pretty good 180 over the years?

[Toro]

Maybe he should run for President.

[samjjones]

How many careers did he ruin with the Tawana Brawley debacle?

[niss]

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How many careers did he ruin with the Tawana Brawley debacle?

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And I'd add that he's never apologized for it, never (to the best of my knowledge) admitted he did something wrong, and has a judgment outstanding against him that he's never satisfied. Hell, the guy has never made any kind of an effort to reach out to Steven Pagones, an innocent person whose life he ruined.

I laugh when I hear Sharpton killing Imus. At least Imus is admitting he made a mistake. What about you, Al? Where does Al get the audacity to claim to stand for the moral high ground?

[4_2_it]

[ QUOTE ]

Am I insane, or has this guy done a pretty good 180 over the years?

[/ QUOTE ]

He seems to have learned from his past mistakes and rehabilitated his image.

I agree he is usually interesting and worth listening to, but it's my impression there isn't much substance behind a lot of what he has to say. In that regard he isn't much different from the other talking heads on TV and radio.

[Howard Beale]

I have no idea how much of what he says he actually believes. I don't care for his opportunism, his predictable slant on every issue, and his sing-song, 'speechifying' delivery.

All of that said I love the guy. He's another in a long line of colorful rogues and he has always escaped from every corner somebody figures they have painted him into. Many smart people have tried and he wiggles free EVERY TIME. The guy is as smart as they come. I admire that part of him.

IIRC, that '180' that somebody mentioned occured right around the time of Jesse Jackson's last, greatest, scandal when Rev. Al positioned himself to take over the top spot. It looks to me that he's been successful.

[nyc999]

I've never been a big Sharpton fan, but it was good having him in the 2004 presidential debates. While Kerry, Edwards, etc. were giving "political speak", Sharpton was the only one bringing up the issues everyone else was afraid to talk about.

On the downside, I think he often interjects himself in situations which only make matters worse for all parties involved.

[XXXNoahXXX]

I think its strange that people talk about him having some sort of media over saturation, being in the public eye too much. I think he loves the cameras being on, I just cant decide how much of that is "I want to spread the message" vs. "I like spreading myself", but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say 80/20.

I think its more of a statement about the racial tensions and issues that are still prevalent in our society that a week can't go by without him having something to decry or someone to defend.

I think that he is fighting a good fight and I definitely think he brings a breath of fresh air to debates.


How do people feel about his counterpart, Jesse Jackson?
Personally, I like him, feel the same way in that I find him to be an incredible speaker and a good man.


He came to speak at my school and at the end of his speech, there was a microphone set up for questions. As soon as he said "I'd now like to open it up to questions", the entire College Republicans literally ran up to the microphone. Of course they ignored the entire content of his great speech and instead posed questions like "How can a man of God have a child out of wedlock?, etc. A lot of people were really embarassed. They didn't let up, but he has obviously tangled with minds and criticism far stronger than these buffoons. He smoked them on every question.

Although he did say "Now I know why it took so long for this school to recognize Martin Luther King Day as a holiday." [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[GrandMelon]

hes just a nappy headed ho

[djoyce003]

I want to say something, hopefully I won't sound too bad. In this particular case, Imus said something stupid, to be sure. However, he never used any racial slurs or any other comment that is negative in general about african americans. He WAS talking about a team that was primarily African American. Are things so bad that you can't even say something negative about a person, NOT a race without being called a racist, etc and wanting people to fire you?

Turn it a bit...if a black person had said this I'm not totally sure Sharpton would be calling for their resignation....but since a white person did, he is. Isn't that a little racist?